


2814.3

by The_fake_KamalaKhan



Series: Earth-976 [2]
Category: Captain Marvel (2019), Green Lantern (Comics)
Genre: 1990s, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Angst with a Happy Ending, Appa Being a Little Shit, BAMF Maria Rambeau, Character Study, F/F, Flashbacks, Framing Story, Gen, Good Grandpa Ganthet, Hal Jordan is a good bro, Laira is a Good Bro, Maria Rambeau is a Green Lantern, Marie Danvers is Captain Marvel, Reunited and It Feels So Good, Self-Discovery, Self-Doubt, Self-Reflection, Unrequited Crush, Worried Parents, and also Jo Mullein, for now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-27 00:20:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30114276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_fake_KamalaKhan/pseuds/The_fake_KamalaKhan
Summary: Out of all the beings in the galaxy, Maria Sojourner Rambeau was chosen to be Sector 2814's newest Green Lantern. She enters this illustrious organization with many doubts, but with the help of new friends and the love in her heart, Maria Rambeau will begin her journey into becoming the universe's next great hero.
Relationships: Carol Danvers/Maria Rambeau, Carter Hall/Shiera Hall, Maria Rambeau & Carter Hall & Shiera Hall, Maria Rambeau & Sojourner "Jo" Mullein
Series: Earth-976 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2128740
Kudos: 2





	1. The New Girl

Inside the Danvers home in the suburbs, the Hawks joined their longtime friend, Marie Danvers, in the living room. Shiera was pacing about with a frantic look in her eye. Marie was on the couch staring at her friend with concern. Carter was dealing with his stress by grilling some chicken, an unusual habit for someone so muscular.

Shiera was starting to hyperventilate. "Damn it! We should've seen this coming! We shouldn't have left her alone all day! So stupid!"

Marie spoke up, "Don't do that to yourself. You couldn't have known."

"I should've, Marie!", Shiera snapped, "This city is crazy and full of villains! It was only a matter of time before one of them decided to go after my daughter! Gah! Why didn't one of us stayed?! We could've prevented this!"

"Shiera," Marie spoke more firmly, "Breaking down like that is not gonna help Maria right now. We will find her. We just gotta keep looking. We can call in the rest of the JSA if you think that would help."

Shiera started to shed some tears. She sniffled, "But Maria's been missing for almost five weeks. There's no ransom note, no demands... what if she's dead?"

Carter turned off the flames and walked over to his wife. "Hey," he spoke softly, "Don't think like that. We don't know for sure. Maria needs us to be more hopeful, Shiera. Don't give up now."

Shiera sobbed. "Andrew was my best friend, Carter. I promised him that I'd take care of Maria in case something happened to him. If I can't do that..."

Shiera broke down in tears. Carter embraced her as she sobbed, letting her cry into his shoulder. Marie looked on at this looking similarly disheartened.

She was friends with the Hawks for years now. When they moved to Fawcett City, Marie came to see Maria as a kind of niece. She was a very warm and kind soul. Marie will always be grateful to her for befriending her daughter and making her feel more welcome in this planet. They have to find her soon.

Once Shiera calmed down a little, she silently walked over to sit next to Marie.

Carter asked Marie, "How's Carol handling all this?"

"She's been... distant. More so than usual, anyway," Marie spoke regretfully, "You know how much Carol loved your girl. She's blaming herself for not being there when Maria disappeared. She's shut herself off in her room. She barely eats. Doesn't go outside. She's miserable."

DING DONG.

"I'll get it," Marie said as she walked over to the front door. When she opened it, however, she nearly got a damn heart attack.

"Hey, Mrs. Danvers," Maria said looking no worse for wear, "Are my parents home?"

* * *

One heartfelt reunion later (with lots of crying and yelling), Maria sat alone on a recliner near the coffee table while the adults sat together on the long couch.

Maria was chowing down on her father's freshly made grilled chicken when Carter asked, "Maria... honey, where have you been? Why didn't you let us know you were okay? We were worried sick."

Maria swallowed and put down her half eaten chicken. "Sorry. I was in space, and... I thought you got my messages by now. Hal told me it got sent in the mail."

"Who's Hal?", Carter asked.

"Wait... Hal? As in, Hal... Jordan?", Marie spoke more knowingly, "As in the Green Lantern Hal Jordan?"

Maria nodded. "The one and only."

"Wait, wait. I'm confused," Shiera spoke up, "There's another Green Lantern? Someone who's not Alan Scott or Jennifer-Lynn Hayden? Like... what?"

Maria took a deep breath and explained, "Long story short, I got drafted."

Maria pulled out a green ring from her pocket. The adults looked at this emerald trinket with a knowing shock.

Shiera started, "Is that..."

"A power ring...", Carter murmured, "But... how? Jen inherited her father's ring after he died. How could there be another?"

"Here's the kicker," Maria said excitedly, "This ring isn't the same one that Alan Scott used. It's actually..."

"A weapon used by the Green Lantern Corps," Marie finished, "An intergalactic peacekeeping organization that answers to the Guardians of the Universe."

"Right... that's, uh, correct," Maria mumbled awkwardly.

The Hawks stared at their friend. Shiera asked, "How do you know this stuff?"

"I'm an alien, remember?", Marie coyly reminded, "I heard about them back when I was a Kree commander. They're a multi-species organization that only recruits from the bravest heroes from each space sector. It's rare for them to recruit from a low level species like humanity. Last I heard, there was only one human in the Corps. That's a huge honor for you, Maria."

"I'm actually the third human to be inducted into the Corps, but thanks," Maria said blushing.

"Wait. So there's... five, uh, four Green Lanterns now? And three of them are hero space cops?", Shiera stammered, "I... what... you lost me here."

"Why don't you start from the beginning, sweetie?", Carter asked, "It's a lot to take in. Like... what happened the day you disappeared?"

"To start... this ring chose me," Maria said pointing to it, "Ganthet told me that it... deemed me worthy after I rushed in to save an injured man during a standoff between SWAT and Crocodile Man."

"Yeah, we're gonna have another talk about that later, young lady," Shiera said scoldingly.

Maria's blood chilled. Maybe she shouldn't have reminded her parents of that so soon. She's so gonna get grounded later...

Nevertheless, the girl continued, "Anyway... I was in my room when this thing appeared over me. It said that I 'endured great fear' and that I was 'chosen' or whatever. I kinda passed out after that. The next thing I know, I woke up in some kind of chamber in Oa..."

* * *

**Five Weeks Ago**

Maria's eyes were opened so suddenly. Her panicked eyes looked around frantically at her very alien surroundings.

The room was completely sterile and white. Almost empty save for the few pieces of equipment lying around. She was on a bed that was surprisingly comfortable given the circumstances, but Maria didn't have time to enjoy it.

That's because she's surrounded a half dozen floating probes with way too many pointy things attached. And to top it all off, there was an alien in the room. It looked like a normal human girl with a red ponytail, but then she turned around to reveal her purple skin and scary as hell white eyes with absolutely no pupils on them.

The alien girl, who happened to be wearing a peculiar green uniform, smiled at Maria, which looked more Stepford than genuine because of those freaky eyes. She said, "I see you're finally awake. Let me..."

"AAAGGHH!", Maria screamed as she instinctively got up to swing at the alien girl.

Once she was laid out on the ground, Maria got out of bed and proceeded to run away from the approaching probes. Spotting an indentation on the wall that looked like a weird future door, Maria ran towards it like a fleeing gazelle.

"You're not probing my ass today, aliens!", Maria said as she took one last step towards the door. In the movies, these future automatic doors should swing open and allow Maria to flee and not get her nethers examined by nosy aliens. However, reality and fiction rarely mesh together.

Maria slammed her face on the door at full speed and knocked herself unconscious.

* * *

Some time later, Maria woke up again. She really hope that this won't become a pattern for her in the future.

When she opened her eyes, Maria found herself in another comfortable bed. This time, she was in a more inviting room. It looked like part of a nice, high-rise apartment with a big window overlooking a city. However, Maria quickly remembered where she was.

She turned her head to see another alien. This time it was a three foot tall blue man wearing robes and looked way older than the alien girl from earlier. The old blue man gave Maria a smile and approached her with a teacup of all things in his hand.

The man spoke in a tone similar to a friendly grandfather. "I heard you gave our young cadet quite the welcome," he chuckled, "I will choose to accept that as a good sign, if you don't mind."

Maria shivered with fear and crawled to the corner of her bed away from the alien man. "Please, Mr. Alien Sir, don't probe my anus! I'm too young! I'm too pretty!"

"Your a...", the blue man cringed with disgust, "Is this one of your colorful human jokes?"

"What are you gonna do to me?", Maria asked in complete dread.

"Nothing untoward, I assure you," he then offered Maria a cup, "Tea?"

Maria still looked at the blue man warily. "My mama told me to never accept any drinks from strange men."

"She sounds like a wise woman," he said before putting the cup away, "But you have my word. My intentions are benevolent."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Give us a chance, kid," another man spoke. This new guy entered the room. To Maria's surprise, he was human. This stud of a man had brown hair and wore a similar green uniform to the alien girl from before. He continued, "You have nothing to fear from us. We're the good guys."

"You... are you human?", Maria asked.

The man nodded. "Yup. Born and bred on Earth. Coast City, to be exact."

"St. Roch," Maria replied sheepishly.

"Ouch. You have my condolences," the man joked. Maria didn't know why, but she felt comfortable around this man. He seemed so... approachable. She let out a small laugh. Feeling encouraged, the man said, "I'm Hal Jordan. You?"

"Maria. Maria Rambeau."

* * *

"And the blue guy's name is Ganthet," Maria recounted to the adults, "He's the one who designed this thing. Apparently, it's different from the other power rings that the other Lanterns use."

"Different how?", Shiera asked.

"You know how Alan Scott needed a battery to recharge his ring? Most of the Corps have to do the same thing to, you know, do all our Green Lantern stuff. However, my ring is different. It didn't come with a battery. It has almost 50 percent more charge than the average power ring, and it can recharge itself over time. Apparently, the other power rings draw power from the ability to overcome fear. Mine draws power from the ability to _endure_ fear. To live with it. It's 30 percent less powerful, but it has greater potential. At least, that's what Ganthet told me. I admit, it's hard to wrap my mind around the science or whatever this is."

"That sounds incredible, Maria," Carter spoke with pride. Shiera and Marie were of a similar mind.

Maria blushed.

Marie then spoke, "I never knew the Guardians to be so... innovative. They're pretty advanced technologically, but they tend to resist change. I thought they'd reject anything that strays from their 'perfect' vision."

Maria sighed. "They almost did."

* * *

In yet another chamber, there sat a group of 9 Guardians. They were the highest authority within the Green Lantern Corps. These Guardians sat high on an elevated, semicircular platform, each looking down on the current subject of debate, Maria Rambeau.

Maria made a silent gulp under the gaze of these authoritative aliens. She was definitely very intimidated at the moment as she shyly rubbed the green ring on her finger. Thankfully, she wasn't alone on ground level.

Hal was standing right next to her with a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, kid. Ganthet and I have your back."

That made Maria feel a little better. Not by much, but it was something.

Maria forced a smile and said, "Thanks..."

Above the two humans, the debate raged on.

"I am growing impatient with your nonsense, Ganthet," the Guardian named Appa Ali Apsa said, "It is not enough that you somehow managed to convince this council to let you construct that deviant ring of yours, but now it has chosen a _child_ to become a Green Lantern? I should've known your ring would end up being defective."

"You are quick to pass judgement, Appa," Ganthet spoke with held back frustration, "You cannot know merit of our young Lantern here or my ring without seeing them both in action for yourself."

"Ganthet is one of the most esteemed ringsmiths in all of Oa," a female Guardian, Sayd, spoke up, "I for one am willing to give his experiment a chance. None of his creations has ever disappointed before."

Ganthet smiled at his colleague as some of the other Guardians murmured to themselves, their opinions mixed.

Appa argued, "Fear is the greatest enemy to any Green Lantern. You all know my opposition to this project from the very beginning. Fear is to be conquered! Not embraced. And certainly not by a mere child."

Maria shuffled her feet in discomfort.

Ganthet spoke up again, "No one here is saying that we should embrace it. What I propose is the ability to _endure_ fear, not embrace it."

"A distinction without a difference," Appa scoffed.

"On the contrary, Appa," Ganthet rebutted, "There is a universe of difference. To suppress one's fears is a simple matter. But to endure them? To live with them? To carry on in the face of overwhelming despair and evil, yet remain resolute in your convictions? That takes greater strength, and my ring draws from that strength."

"Flowery words for a Lantern that is 30 percent weaker than average," Appa argued.

"And with 50 percent more charge," Sayd reminded him.

Appa glared at her.

Ganthet continued, "I trust in my ring's design with my life. But more importantly, I trust the young woman carrying it. All I ask is for both of them to be given a fair chance to prove themselves."

Some of the more hesitant Guardians were starting to come around to Ganthet's argument. Appa noticed this, and he is infuriated by it.

"Need I remind all of you that Ganthet's 'chosen one' is a child?!", Appa growled.

"Maria Rambeau would not be the youngest to ever receive a ring," Ganthet pointed out, "And this 'child', risked her life to save a man in need," he played footage of Maria's fateful rescue on a holo screen in front of all his fellow Guardians, "She did this without the power of a ring. Or any powers at all. If that is not worthy of the Green Lantern Corps, I don't know what is."

The other Guardians were impressed by Maria's heroic actions. Except for Appa, of course.

Sayd spoke up, "We shall put this matter to a vote. All approving the induction of Maria Sojourner Rambeau and her ring into the Green Lantern Corps, say 'aye'."

"Aye," Ganthet and five other Guardians spoke.

"All opposed?"

"Nay," Appa and one other Guardian sounded.

"The ayes have it," Sayd happily announced.

Most of the Guardians murmured and hummed with approval. Appa and his ally, however, grumbled in displeasure. The Guardians of the Universe, whether in victory or defeat, are an emotionally reserved people. As such, they generally conform to consensus and abide by the outcome of a fair vote whether they like the result or not.

Something for humanity to learn in the future.

"It is decided," Ganthet said, "Maria Rambeau. Welcome to..."

"Um... Mr. Ganthet, sir... can I say something?", Maria spoke sheepishly. This took the council by surprise. Ganthet motioned for her to continue. "I'm... I'm not sure that I want to be a... Green Lantern."

Appa gave Ganthet a smug look that he tried to ignore. Ganthet told the girl, "This is a rare opportunity that you're passing over, Ms. Rambeau. I know you wish to do right by others. That's why my ring chose you. Becoming a Green Lantern will help you do so for all the peoples of the universe."

"I know. I'm not saying that I'm completely against this, but... I have a life. On Earth," Maria admitted, "I'm not sure that I'm ready to give that up."

Hal spoke up, "Being a Green Lantern doesn't mean you have to completely abandon Earth or your life. You just have to find a way to balance your new duties with your civilian identity. I'm not saying it'll be easy, but it's possible. You look like a girl who can handle that kind of responsibility."

A small smile formed on Maria. "That's a relief. But still... it's a big change. Part of me wants to be here... but my heart will always be at home."

To her parents. And to Carol. But that part went unsaid.

Ganthet hummed. "Very well... we shall give you 24 hours to make your decision. That is the custom, after all, for newly recruited Green Lanterns."

"Thank you," Maria said with a gracious bow.

"This concludes our current meeting," Sayd announced, "We shall reconvene in 0300 hours tomorrow to either confirm or reverse Maria Rambeau's induction. To all assembled here, I thank you for your time. Good day."

With that, the assembled Guardians made their leave. Appa, however, gave Maria a chilling glare before scoffing and floating away.

That one scared Maria if she was being honest.

Hal chimed in again. "Don't worry about Appa. He's like that to everyone. It's his natural state. You'll get used to it."

"I'm not sure I want to..."

Hal looked at the overwhelmed teen with nothing but sympathy. He was an uncertain rookie too once upon a time.

"Come on, kid," Hal said as he began to walk out of the chamber, "You look hungry. I know a place on Oa that serves the best human food."

Maria looked at Hal, uncertainty and doubt still plaguing her mind. This choice could change her life forever, and she wouldn't know if it will be for the better. With nothing better to do, Maria trailed behind Hal Jordan and hoped that she'll make the right decision before her 24 hours were up.

"Mr. Jordan...", Maria began.

"Please, 'Mr. Jordan' was my father. Call me Hal."

"Okay... Hal. I wanna send a message to my family. I want them to know that I'm okay. Where do I do that?"

Hal nodded. "The post office. Come on. We'll stop by on the way."

* * *

"And where is this message, if I may ask?", Shiera asked bitterly.

Maria shuffled into her seat. She really didn't have an answer for that.

Thankfully, she didn't have to.

KLINK!

A small cylinder suddenly broke through the living room window and embedded itself on the coffee table.

Marie looked at the broken window and whined, "Come on! I just got that fixed!"

"Yeah... it's best I warned you now," Maria started to say sheepishly, "I sent at least fifteen more messages. Sorry."

"Seriously?", Marie groaned.

While Marie was cursing the Guardians under her breath, Carter took the cylinder out. Looking at it curiously, he found only a single button on this strange device. Pressing it caused the cylinder to display a holographic screen with letters written in plain English.

Carter and Shiera read:

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_Sorry for not being around. But I can assure you that I am safe. I am well. I'm just currently in space on a planet called Oa. The people there have this opportunity for me that I might want. A job opportunity for something called the Green Lantern Corps. They're basically space superheroes with magic rings, and they invited me for some reason. I'm not sure if I'll take it yet, but in case I'm not back for a while, you can call Carol Ferris. She's got a connection to one of the senior officers if you wanna talk. Here's her number._

_415-228-1959_

_I'm sorry if I caused you any grief. I know how much you love and care about me. In case I do accept this job, know that you'll be my inspiration. You're my heroes after all, and I love you both so much._

_Sincerely,_

_Your Daughter Maria_

Carter and Shiera were touched, and they looked at their daughter with loving smiles.

Marie whined again. "Five weeks later and their message gets delivered to the wrong address. The Guardians' postal service sucks! I wish I could make them pay for my damn window!"

To be fair, most of the universe relies on electronic communication via the intergalactic extranet, which Earth currently doesn't have access to. The Oan postal service only exists for the Green Lanterns who come from primitive worlds. Keeping it well funded or running smoothly aren't exactly on the list of the Guardians' priorities.

Maria then picked up where she left off in a restaurant called New Warriors.

* * *

After sending what would be an overly tardy letter, Hal and Maria headed towards the most popular eating establishment in Oa.

New Warriors, founded by another Earth Lantern, Guy Gardner.

This is the only spot in all of Oa, where one can get such iconic Earth foods, such as burgers and fries. While Guy couldn't get most of the ingredients he needs on Oa, alien crop imports and replicated proteins are enough to capture that distinct fast food taste. The restaurant is getting so popular that the official Green Lantern mess hall is actually in danger of going out of business.

The two Lanterns found one of the few vacant tables in this establishment, and they are currently enjoying a little taste of home. Maria especially seems to be enjoying her triple BBQ bacon burger.

Hal smiled in amusement. "Guy might be a fulltime jerk, but he knows his stuff. I'll never admit it to his face, but his burgers...", Hal flew a chief's kiss, "Second to none."

Maria swallowed and said ecstatically, "I know! I think this stuff tastes even better than the burgers back home!"

"It's probably the Thanagarian rabbit meat. Can't get that on Earth."

Maria nodded as she finished her burger and licked the sauce from her fingers. As she did so, however, Maria looked around and noticed that the other Lanterns were staring at her again. They averted their eyes when she turned her head at them, but Maria knows that they were staring at her. She couldn't fully figure out all their reactions towards her, but she knows that some of the more antagonistic Lanterns were giving her glares. And then there were all the whispers she heard behind their back.

Hal noticed Maria's sudden discomfort and said, "Don't take it too personally, kid. It's not just you. Not everyone here approves of Ganthet's little science experiment with your ring. A few of them don't like Ganthet's theory about alternative willpower. And some are even afraid of getting replaced by a new Corps if this experiment succeeds, which is ridiculous by the way."

"It feels like they just don't like me," Maria said with a downbeat tone, "A lot of them seem to be writing me off before I even started. I'm not sure if I should really bother with the whole Lantern business. Is it really worth it if everyone is just watching to see me fail?"

" _I_ don't want you to fail," Hal reminded her, "And neither does Ganthet or Guy even. And there will be a lot more Lanterns on your corner once you start. It just takes time."

"It's just...", Maria hesitated but then she said, "My dad went through the same thing when he became a cop. He never talks to me about, but I can tell no one really respected him at work. I don't know if it's because he was black or because of his politics, but he was more dedicated than anyone else in the department. But he never got the promotion he wanted, and in the end... he got shot by some rookie who doesn't know the difference between a black suspect and a black off-duty cop. What if... what if that's me, Hal? What if I end up wasting my life over this?"

"Listen, kid. I'm not trying to tell you what to do," Hal started to say seriously, "This is ultimately your decision. If you think that this life isn't for you, then okay. I admit, it's not for everyone. But before you make that call, be sure that it's really because you don't want it. Don't let other people make this decision for you. Maybe some of our 'illustrious' colleagues will never accept you. I know Appa probably wouldn't. But Ganthet's ring wouldn't have chosen you if you didn't have what it takes to be here. You can do a lot of good as a Green Lantern. You'd have the power to protect a lot of people and change things for the better. Just think about that, okay?"

Maria took a deep breath. "Okay," she then got up, "I... think I need to be alone right now. I need to think, you know?"

Hal nodded. "Of course. You know that big, green skyscraper we passed on the way here? With that weird lantern crown thing? Fly to the top of it. It's got one hell of a view."

"Thanks Hal," Maria said before leaving.

As she went out the door, Hal noticed the Cajun fries that Maria left unfinished. With a mischievous smirk, he took Maria's plate and said, "You snooze. You lose, kid."

* * *

Maria flew up to the spot that Hal mentioned. On the way to the post office, Hal taught Maria how to fly using her ring. It was surprisingly easy, for the basic stuff at least. This new power allowed Maria to fly to the top of the skyscraper and take a seat on the ledge. Looking out, Maria could see what Hal was talking about.

The view was gorgeous. There was a breathtaking sunset over at the orange horizon as the darkness of space began to creep in. The cityscape was unlike anything she had ever seen thanks to all this alien, near utopian architecture. It felt like she was looking at the idyllic Star Trek future. And the city even had its own character with beautiful emerald tones plastered everywhere and Lanterns flying back and forth as brilliant green sparks in the sky.

It was beautiful, no doubt about it. A perfect place for one to be alone with their thoughts.

Now here comes the sucky part.

Maria deflated as she thought about her future in the Corps. On this place.

Pros- she gets to keep this cool ring; she gets to be a superhero like her parents; she gets to be a good cop like her dad; Oa is amazing; New Warriors has the best burgers she ever tasted; Hal is a cool guy; Ganthet is like the grandfather she never had; she'll meet cool looking aliens; she gets to spend her days as female Ben Sisko

Cons- this job is dangerous; she might get killed and make her parents and Carol sad; a lot of people here don't respect her; the Guardians' blue Oompa Loompa appearance kinda freaks her out, even Ganthet (she still likes him though)

Huh, this gig has more positives than negatives. But are the negatives bad enough to turn her off to this?

That's the real question Maria needed to answer before the day was done, and so far, she made almost no progress since leaving the council chamber.

"I see you found my spot," a new voice teased.

Maria jumped. She almost fell off the building she was that spooked. Thankfully, she could fly now, so that's a non-issue. Maria turned to see a familiar purple girl with white eyes.

"Oh! It's, uh... you," Maria stumbled awkwardly.

"Yes. Me," she remarked, "I trust that you won't knock me out this time?"

Maria's cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. "I'm sorry."

The girl shrugged. "That's okay. I handled worse," she then sat next to Maria and introduced herself, "I'm Laira. Green Lantern of Sector 112."

"I'm..."

"Maria Rambeau," she interrupted, "Yes, I know. Everyone knows you by now. Word travels fast among us Lanterns."

"Great... more attention," Maria grimaced.

Laira eyed Maria's ring curiously. She asked, "So that's what got everyone buzzing. Can I see it?"

"Um... sure."

Laira proceeded to grab Maria's left hand and lift it in front of her face. As she examined the experimental power ring with interest, Maria blushed.

She didn't know what to expect with aliens. While her girlfriend is an alien, Carol looked human, and she might as well just be a human with superpowers. But Laira is different. She's more outwardly alien, and... Maria didn't really expect someone like Laira to be so... attractive. Her hands were warm and soft to the touch. And if you can get past her creepy white eyes, she looks cute. Exotic even.

Maria blushed. She scolded herself internally. "You already got a girlfriend, Rambeau! Keep your mind out of the gutter!"

Thankfully, Laira didn't seem to notice. "The craftsmanship is incredible," she chirped with awe, "It certainly has more flair than the standard issue rings. Ganthet really knows his craft."

Maria took her hand away and tried to fight back her blush. "Yeah, uh, it's great."

Laira gave Maria a knowing look. "You're still agonizing over your induction, aren't you?"

She changed the subject. Maria certainly felt relieved.

Looking more serious, Maria said, "I don't suppose you have any opinions on the matter?"

"I do," Laira then spoke honestly, "I like the idea of you joining us."

"Really?", Maria said surprised.

"Until you came along, I was the youngest Lantern here," Laira admitted, "Most of the other Green Lanterns are polite, but I'd appreciate having someone else my age to talk to. It can get kinda lonely here."

Maria was encouraged by this. Still, she said, "I'm still not sure if I should join at all. I know this ring chose me for a reason, but this is a huge change. Yesterday, I was just a high school student. But now I'm being told that I'm chosen to become part of an intergalactic police force? It's just...", Maria let out a tired sigh, "Tell me. What was it like for you?"

Laira winced. "I'm afraid our lives couldn't be any more different. I was actually a private in my world's armed forces."

"And you started later than the other child soldiers, right?", Maria said sardonically.

"Actually, yes. How did you know?"

Maria gave Laira a knowing smile. "Lucky guess," Maria's face then fell again, "Looks like some people are just born great."

"There's more to my story than that. You see, my father was a Green Lantern too."

Maria looked at Laira surprised. "Really?"

Laira nodded. "I looked up to him, you know. Everyone in my planet did, but I wanted to be just like him ever since I was a little girl. Even before the ring chose him, my dad was a hero. A soldier. I didn't think I was ever gonna lose him when he became a Green Lantern," Laira then looked more sullen, "But then he died, and... his ring chose me."

Maria looked at Laira sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

"At first, I didn't even want this ring. It was my father's, and I didn't think anyone else should have it. But after I did some thinking, I realized that the best thing that I could do to honor my father's memory is to be the best Green Lantern I could be. And... I think I'm doing really well so far."

Something about Laira's story touched Maria on a deep, emotional level. "I looked up to my dad too. He wasn't a Green Lantern, but he was a hero. A cop. And a good one. After he... died, two of his friends adopted me. They were like the Green Lanterns of my planet. It took me a while, but I grew to love them like I did my dad. You can say that I also come from a legacy of heroes."

"Don't you want to continue that legacy?"

Maria deflated. "I want to, but... I'm not like you, Laira. I'm not some fearless hero like your dad, or my dad, or my parents. I have so many doubts. How can I be a hero to others if some part of me will always doubt my place here? I don't wanna let anyone down. Especially not my parents. All of them."

Laira chuckled. "Do you think my dad started out fearless? Or me? I was far from fearless when I first got my ring. I was actually more like you than you think. And I'm sure none of your parents began as perfect heroes."

"How do you do it?", Maria asked anxiously, "How did you get over your fears? Weren't you afraid of letting your dad down?"

"I was, and I still am," Laira then explained, "You see, willpower is the source of our rings' power. But true willpower is the ability to endure our fears, not the absence of them. Fear is a natural part of life. No matter who you are, you'll never be without your fears. The key is to learn from them. Acknowledge them as parts of yourself. To live with who you are, flaws and all. After that, they don't seem so scary."

"You sound like Ganthet."

Laira gave Maria a sly smile. "Who do you think taught me that?", Laira then said, "I think you owe it to yourself to find out whether or not you're worthy of your parents' legacy. Don't let yourself regret what could've been."

Maria took Laira's words to heart.

She thought about her dad and about Carter and Shiera. All her life she wanted to be a hero like them. She wanted to help people. Protect them. Inspire them and change the world. She remembered how terrified she was when she rushed in to save that man, but at the same time, she remembered the pride that she felt after saving his life. Maybe that was a fluke.

But then again, maybe it wasn't.

Laira's ring beeped. It then displayed a holographic screen with some kind of alien writing. She sighed. "Duty calls."

She gets up, but Maria gets up too. "Where are you going?"

"My job. A patrol ship stopped a freighter. It looked shifty, and the officers present think that they might be part of a slave ring. They want a Green Lantern as backup in case things get ugly."

"Mind if I tag along?"

"It might get dangerous. And besides, this is official Green Lantern business."

"Since I'm gonna be an official Green Lantern tomorrow, I figured some exposure to the job will be good for me," Maria said with a confident smile.

Laira smiled back. "Good point. Follow my lead... Green Lantern."

Maria flew after Laira as they both traveled into space. She didn't know what the future will hold for her, but she knew one thing.

She will be a hero. Like Carter and Shiera. And like her father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but then I realized that it was running a bit too long. I promised myself that each chapter will only have 4000-6000 words each, and since I didn't want the gap between releases to be too long, I decided to release the first half of the story now and the post the second half as the second chapter.
> 
> I know Carol is only mentioned in this first chapter, but I promise that she'll show up next time. In fact, I intend to end this story with a heart-to-heart between Carol and Maria. So for those of you that came for the ship, don't worry. I won't neglect those two.
> 
> I know that I teased Maria's attraction to Green Lantern Laira Omoto, but I currently don't have plans to split Carol and Maria any time soon. I just wanted to write some cute moments. Maybe I'll write in a love triangle situation with a lot of feels in the future, but for now, Maria's definitely still committed to Carol. And she definitely won't be cheating on her any time soon.
> 
> That's about all for this chapter. I'll see you all next time.


	2. Rookie of the Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the name of the story from "2814.4" to "2814.3" as well as removed all references to John Stewart. I have nothing against the character, in fact, he's the first Green Lantern I was ever exposed to and has a special place in my heart. It's just that I have a lot of ideas right now. Making Maria Rambeau the third Green Lantern rather than John opens up a lot more of those ideas. 
> 
> However, John still exists in this universe. It's just that his induction into the Corps will have to come later to better serve a potential Green Arrow story/storyline. 
> 
> I hope you all understand.

"So yeah, I accepted the job. I'm now Sector 2814's newest Green Lantern," Maria told the adults in the room, "After Ganthet made it official, I was sent to boot camp. The training was... difficult."

* * *

"Gah!", Maria yelped as she was knocked to the ground. She clutched her chest in pain, screaming, "My ribs!"

It was then that a giant of a Green Lantern bellowed, "Did I say you could lay about, poozer?!"

"Medic!"

* * *

Maria still has nightmares to Kilowog's... 'tough love' approach to training. Honestly, that's one more reason why she thought she could make it in the Corps. If Maria could survive that, she can survive anything.

"Anyway," Maria said snapping out of her flashback, "After three weeks, I can do all sorts of cool stuff with this ring. I even got to design my own super suit!"

"Really?", Marie asked curiously, "Can we see it?"

"Sure," Maria said before outstretching her arms and allowing her uniform coat her entire body.

It was a two layer piece with the outer layer being a green and white coat that resembled a police jacket with the Green Lantern pinned to the upper left of her torso like a badge. The inner layer was a skin-tight black body suit that covered every inch of Maria's body. In addition, Maria wore a pair of white boots, white gloves with emerald inlays, and a pair of pointed green shades to hide her identity.

Maria smiled enthusiastically. "Pretty cool, right?"

Carter whistled. "I'll say. Very sharp, dear."

Marie also looked impressed with Maria. However, Shiera was more hesitant.

She asked, "Honey... are you sure about this?"

"Mom, I already told you. I want this. I thought long and hard about it."

"But you're only sixteen," Shiera reminded her, "This life your describing... Maria, it's too dangerous for you."

"Mom," Maria sounded irritated, "I wasn't just dumped into this job right away. I trained for three weeks and by a very strict, very tough drill sergeant if I might add," Maria said as she instinctively rubbed her ribs, "I'm not just some kid in a Halloween costume. I have a power ring! I can do this!"

"I just...", Shiera stammered, "I don't wanna see you get hurt."

"I don't see what the issue is here," Marie chimed in, "Batman's sidekicks started even younger than Maria."

"There are a hundred reasons why Batman is crazy. Bringing kid sidekicks into his war on crime is one of them," Shiera spoke candidly, "Forgive me if I think that letting my sixteen year old daughter go out to space and fight crime is a bad idea."

"Mom!", Maria whined.

Carter then suggested, "How about we hear Maria out first? She should have a story or two about her time out there, right?"

"I just... fine," Shiera mumbled.

"Thanks dad," Maria said smiling at her father. He then motioned for her to continue. "Right then. After completing boot camp, I was assigned my patrol routes for my first two weeks. Green Lantern rookies are paired up with more experienced Lanterns early on. To show them the ropes. For two weeks, my partner was Laira," Maria was smiling fondly at her name, "It was pretty uneventful for the most part. A couple suspicious freighters there. A few border disputes here. It didn't really get violent until we got to Ungaran System..."

* * *

**One Week Ago**

A meteor was currently on its way to Ungara, a garden world similar to Earth with over ten billion souls living within it. They were all currently in danger of being wiped out by a meteor that was bigger than the one that made the dinosaurs extinct.

Normally, Ungara's defense systems could blast the meteor apart before it could enter the planet's atmosphere. Unfortunately, this meteor happened to be made of vibranium, meaning that Ungara's weapons were entirely ineffectual here.

They needed a hero. Fast.

Thankfully, they were given two.

Laira and Maria were approaching the posterior of the meteor carefully.

Maria gulped. "Okay... this seems like a huge step up from parking violations."

Laira's head was more in the game. "We just need to redirect the meteor away from the planet. The tractor beam function on our rings should do it."

"Right... we got this," Maria spoke with false bravado, "This should be like moving a couch, right? I've done that before... with dad's help. Eh..."

Laira touched Maria's arm and said, "You'll do fine. Just follow my lead."

Maria took a deep breath and smiled. "Thanks..."

Laira nodded before flying ahead. She then projected a tractor beam and attached it to the meteor's back. Gritting her teeth with effort, Laira pulled back. The tractor beam managed to slow the meteor down if only so slightly. However, the sheer mass and speed of the meteor was threatening to break this connection.

"Maria!", Laira yelled, "Your turn!"

"Um... okay!", Maria yelled as she raced ahead of Laira. She tried doing the 'moving the couch' method and tractor the anterior of the meteor, but Laira scolded her.

"What are you doing?!"

Maria slowed down enough to reply defensively, "I'm trying to tractor the meteor!"

"Yeah, but not from the front! That's a good way to get yourself smashed by a full mountain range of vibranium!", Laira pointed out.

Maria smacked herself in the head for her stupidity. "My bad!"

"Just tractor it from the left! There's a barren planet there where we can chuck this thing away safely!"

"Okay... okay!", Maria sounded as she readjusted to fly over to the meteor's left flank. She mumbled to herself, "Remember your training, Rambeau. Just aim... and imagine!"

Maria fired a tractor beam to where her partner said.

Laira nodded in approval. "Okay! On my mark, start tugging to the left. One... two... three."

"GUUUHH!", Maria grunted as she began pulling a few mountains' worth of pure metal. It was like trying to move a million couches at once, but even though Maria could feel her tendons straining, she managed to pull the giant meteor out of trajectory one inch at a time.

"That's it! Keep going!", Laira then moved over to the meteor's right flank and replaced her tractor beam with several giant rocket boosters attached to that side of the meteor. With every ounce of willpower that she could muster, Laira willed her rocket constructs to fire and help direct the meteor to the left of Ungara.

This combined push and pulled caused the meteor's face to no longer point towards the habitable planet. However, the Green Lantern girls still needed to make sure that the meteor won't be sucked in by Ungara's gravitational pull.

"Come on, Maria!", Laira shouted with a strained voice, "Just... keep... pulling!"

"Gah!", Maria screamed out of effort.

"Rah!"

"Guh!"

"Rah!"

"Guh!"

* * *

KLINK!

Another message cylinder smashes through the same window.

Marie got up and shouted, "Motherfu-"

* * *

Back to the past, Maria and Laira moved the vibranium meteor one inch away from Ungara. And then another. And then another.

The girls were forced to hold the meteor all the way past Ungara just to make sure that it wouldn't crash there. It took sweat and a lot of pain, but finally, Ungara was out of sight.

"We're good! Maria! Release!", Laira shouted as she shut off her rocket boosters. Maria could barely hear her partner through the pain, but she did finally turn off the tractor beam and let herself float idly in the void of space.

Without further interference, the vibranium meteor simply moved towards its new path. Now freed from the two Green Lanterns, the massive meteor entered the barren planet's atmosphere in a halo of flame. When it finally crashed into the surface, Laira and Maria could see the resulting explosion even from space. To them, it was a fiery orange dot the size of a watermelon. They watched the explosion warp the cloud cover around the dot into some kind of cloudy bullseye.

It was a sight to behold to be sure. But the girls are happier to see that this didn't happen to the planet with actual people in it.

Laira flew over to the completely exhausted Maria Rambeau. She placed an arm around her friend's back and supported her as they floated in space.

Maria wheezed. "Did... did we do it?"

Smiling down on her fondly, Laira said, "Yeah... we did. You were... amazing."

Maria smiled back. "Good... can I just... lie here for a bit? I think I blew out one of my lungs back there."

Laira chuckled before snuggling next to her partner. "Sure."

* * *

"After we helped stop the apocalypse, the Ungarans invited us to a party held in our honor. Perks of being a superhero, right?"

"So you turned back a metal meteor the size of a mountain range?", Carter hummed, "Gotta say, that's impressive. That's like... Superman levels of strength."

Marie scoffed. "I can benchpress a mountain range too," she then looked at Maria and shifted her tone, "Still, a meteor redirection is a very tricky, very dangerous operation. I should know."

"It's one thing to move space rocks," Shiera started, "It's another to fight people trying to kill you. Maria... I know you've been training, but you don't know what it's like to be in a real life or death situation."

"Actually, mom, I do," Maria spoke frankly. All the adults listened intently as Maria said, "Believe it or not, redirecting a giant meteor wasn't the most dangerous thing I had to do that day..."

* * *

While the Ungarans were celebrating being alive on their equivalent of a picnic area, Maria Rambeau sat idly on top of a tree branch. She was still in uniform, but her ring was currently not on her finger.

Instead, it was floating in front of her like it did when she first encountered it. Squinting, Maria poured her focus on the ring, and it flew back and forth at the girl's whim. Maria smiled as she willed her ring to do precise maneuvers in the air before spinning it in place like a coin.

"Hey! Maria!", Laira called her from below.

Maria gave her friend a quick glance before shoving her finger back onto the ring, interrupting it mid-spin. As she floated down, Maria noticed something different about her friend.

Laira wasn't wearing her uniform or even the casual clothes that she wore underneath. Instead, she was a fabulous red dress with black glitter, no back, and a small slit running along one side of the skirt.

Maria looked at her impressed. "Wow... that's, uh, different."

"One of the dressmakers gave me this as a gift," Laira then gave a graceful twirl to show off her new outfit, "You like it?"

"Well... yeah! Girl, you look so fine right now."

"Thanks," Laira then pointed out, "It looks like you mastered the remote control technique."

Maria shrugged. "I had a good teacher," Laira blushed, "It's pretty neat trick."

"It's more than just a trick. The ability to control your ring even if it's not in your finger is a useful skill. It might save a life one day."

"I'll keep it in mind," Maria then asked, "Speaking of, where's your ring? I don't see it."

Laira answered by pointing behind Maria. Maria turned around confused until she saw Laira's ring floating above her head and projecting some letters that said, _'_ _Mind your surroundings, dummy._ _'_

"Nice," Maria said smirking, "I didn't know we could do that."

"There's much yet for you to learn, young grasshopper," Laira teased before grabbing Maria's hand, "Come on."

As Maria's legs started moving, she asked, "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise. Now come on!", Laira said excitedly as her ring flew ahead as a kind of guide.

Maria followed her friend through the forest. This enchanted forest with sparkling blue trees and under a perfect moonlit night. Ever since Maria accepted this job, she has been able to explore the galaxy and seeing wonders that only two other humans have seen. It's been an amazing week and a half. Maria almost felt stupid for almost passing all of this up.

Maria smiled as she looked ahead at the girl in front of her. The company wasn't bad either.

"We're here!", Laira announced.

Maria let go of her friend's hand as she stepped forth to see a fancy dinner table with two chairs and exotic alien dishes. She asked Laira, "What is this?"

"Dinner," Laira answered, "I saw that you didn't eat at the party."

"I don't like eating in crowds, so..."

"That's why I set this up. We can just be alone. Together... eating together, that is," Laira said chuckling nervously.

Maria gave her friend a quick hug. "You're an awesome friend."

The human girl then stepped away and took a seat. As she excitedly sampled the new meals in front of her, Laira took a moment to stare at Maria fondly. She has gotten to know her human partner very well this past week. She's certainly wasn't like any other Lantern she's ever met, and Laira felt something about her that she didn't experience with anyone else in her life. Something about her...

"Hey Laira!", Maria shouted after swallowing a weird alien donut, "Get your butt over here before I shove all this down my stomach! It's so good!"

"R-Right," Laira stuttered as she approached the vacant chair. She sighed as her ring returned to her finger. She certainly has it bad for Maria.

* * *

After the two girls finished their meal, they decided to lie down together on the side of the hill that they were on. Laying peacefully on the blue grass, Laira and Maria gazed at the stars together.

Maria asked her friend, "Do you know any of the constellations here?"

Laira shook her head. "This is my first time on Ungara, so... no."

Maria sighed. "That's too bad. My dad... the one I'm related to... we used to stargaze together on the weekends."

"Really?"

Maria nodded. "I didn't really care about my planet's constellations then. My dad and I would make up our own constellations. 'Lucy's Diamond Rocket'. 'Elvis the Sky Wizard'. 'Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew'. I remember having so much fun trying to put all those stars together with my dad. I'm pretty sure we had to stretch some rules to create the characters I drew in my old school notebook."

"That sounds so dorky," Laira laughed, "But also very fun. Wanna try it here?"

"Sure."

The two girls spent almost an hour picking out stars in the sky. They managed to take turns naming their constellations. 'The Silent Knight'. 'Steppenwolf's Decapitated Head'. 'Jamal the Pegasus'. 'Generic Green Lantern Logo'. And most importantly...

"'Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew'."

Laira chuckled. "I knew you'd try to shoehorn that in."

Maria shrugged with a self-satisfied smile. "You can't go wrong with a classic."

"Dork," Laira teased. Maria laughed, but then Laira's face turned more serious. She had to do this sooner or later, or else she'll go mad. She asked, "Hey Maria... I've been meaning to ask... do you have anyone... special back home?"

Maria blushed uncomfortably. "What brought this on?"

"I... just curious."

Maria sighed. "I don't have a boyfriend, if that's what you're wondering."

That was a good sign, Laira thought. She then asked, "Really? I'd think a girl as amazing as you would be spoken for by now."

"Flatterer," Maria teased. She then went back to being uncomfortable. "It's just... I never really had the best luck with boys. I prefer to spend time with girls, actually. I mean, not dating them obviously. I do like boys. If I found the right one, it would be different. It's just...", Maria gave up with a sigh, "I don't know what I'm saying."

"Maria... are you saying that you like girls?"

Maria kept her mouth shut like she was a suspect in custody.

Laira decided to be bold for the moment and hold her friend's hand. She said, "I spoke to Hal. He told me about the... discrimination your world has against same-sex relationships. I'd never judge you for it. Because I'm gay too."

Maria relaxed and let out a sigh of relief. "I'm actually bisexual, but thanks... for telling me," she then said, "To answer your question, there's this girl. She's beautiful, but tough. She has amazing hair, and it looks even more amazing when she's flying. And she's the best friend I ever had."

That description... was this really happening?

Laira felt her heart pound hard against her ribs. She turned her head to look at Maria with hope and a deep longing. She squeezed Maria's hand and said, "She sounds amazing."

"Yeah... she is," Maria said as she turned her head to face Laira's.

It was all the confirmation that Laira needed.

Laira caressed Maria's cheek.

Confused by this sudden display of affection, Maria asked, "What are you..."

Maria was then cut off when Laira placed her lips upon hers. Laira held on to the back of Maria's head, deepening the kiss, but then Maria placed a hand on Laira's chest and shoved her off.

"What are you doing?!", Maria sounded a little harsher than she intended.

Confused, Laira said, "Um... kissing you? I mean... you like me. Right?"

Maria let out a frustrated sigh. More to herself than to her friend. "Laira, I... I wasn't talking about you."

That drove a metaphorical knife through Laira's heart. Almost breathless, Laira muttered, "What?"

"I... I have a girlfriend, Laira. On Earth," Maria said feeling bad about breaking her friend's heart like this.

Laira could feel the tears streaming down her eyes. She stood up and stammered, "Oh... I..."

Feeling completely humiliated, Laira ran off with drops of tears streaming behind her wake. Maria scrambled to get up before going after her friend.

"Laira! Wait!"

* * *

"Maria... no offense, but I gotta ask," Marie interrupted, "Where are you going with this?"

"What do you mean?", Maria asked raising her brow, "I'm telling my story."

"Yeah, but what does your... relationship issues have to do with you handling yourself in a dangerous situation."

"Well, I need to establish some context," Maria said as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

Shiera told her friend, "Maria's always like this. No detail is unimportant to her. Ask her for a story, and she'll give you a novel."

"Hush now," Carter told the women as he listened intently to his daughter, "This is getting good. Maria, did you and this Laira girl make up?"

Maria winced. "Yes, but there was a bit of hiccup..."

* * *

Maria didn't know how long she spent in these woods looking for her lost friend. Laira has been such a good partner and mentor to her this past week, and even better friend. She basically owed Laira for being the one to make sure that she didn't pass this great opportunity up.

Maria felt horrible for hurting her this badly, even if it was unintentional. After all, she too knows what it was like be in love with a girl who couldn't love her back.

Laira's race was naturally more agile than the average human, so Maria quickly lost her.

"Damn it! Where are you, Laira?", she grumbled under her breath.

It was then that the ring spoke to her. _"Would you like to trace Lantern Omoto's ring signal?"_

Maria stopped in her tracks as she looked at her ring flabbergasted. "What? You could do that?"

_"Of course. It is a basic feature built into all Green Lantern power rings."_

Maria yelled, "Then why didn't you say anything before?!"

_"You didn't ask."_

"Guh!", Maria shouted in frustration. She did, however, calm down enough to say, "Just show me her location."

The ring then displayed a local topography map. It displayed Maria Rambeau's current location as well as Laira's about a half mile to the east.

"I'm coming for you, girl," Maria spoke quietly as she flew up and darted to that location as fast as she can.

* * *

Maria landed on clearing. Sure enough, she found Laira there. Unfortunately, she was lying on the ground on her stomach unmoving.

"Laira!", Maria shouted as she rushed to her friend's side.

Laira didn't get up, but Maria did see that she was squirming and letting out small wheezes of pain. At least she's alive. As she examined Laira's body for any sign of injury, she spotted a flat, circular device about the size of a small apple stuck to her back. Whatever it was, Maria could hear faint buzzes of electricity off it.

She needed to take this off. Now.

Before Maria could move for the device, however, she heard some kind of energy gun powering up behind her.

"I'd leave that alone if I were you," a man threatened. He was Ungaran, meaning he looked vaguely human except for his red skin. He was bald, and he wore a set of armor and a jetpack that gave him a 'Boba Fett' feel from the neck down.

Maria paused. She could feel the barrel of this man's gun behind her back. As a Green Lantern, she had a protective aura around her as long as her ring had a charge. However, a powerful enough energy weapon could still seriously hurt her at point blank range. And considering said weapon was pointed at her head...

The man spoke again with a cold demand. "Get up. Slowly."

Maria did as she was told.

With barely contained contempt, Maria asked, "What did you do to my friend?"

"Sakaaran Obedience Disk. I set it to take down her nervous system. She won't be getting up without my say so. No need to involve her. She's not the one I want."

It was his only one, but he didn't let Maria know that.

"What do you want?"

"Your ring. Give it to me," he said shooting Maria's ring a hungry glance.

"What? No," Maria spoke frankly.

The man angrily pressed his laser pistol against the back of Maria's head. "Don't make me ask twice!"

Maria gritted her teeth in anger as she weighed her options.

* * *

"I later found out that the man's name was Amon Sur," Maria explained to the adults, "He's the son of Abin Sur, who used to be the Green Lantern of this sector. When his ring chose Hal, he chose to spend his life trying to take a ring from us Earth Lanterns. He hates us humans, because he believed we stole what should've been his."

"He sounds like an entitled bastard," Marie commented.

"He is," Maria agreed, "He's also a cowardly poozer."

"Poozer?", Shiera asked.

"Just something I picked up from training," Maria said casually before explaining, "Amon was afraid of trying to steal the other human Lanterns' rings now that they're good and experienced. He thought that I was the weakest link, so he went after me. Turns out, I wasn't as weak as he thought."

"You gotta tell us how you kicked his ass," Carter encouraged.

"How about I show you," Maria said as she pointed her ring to the adults, "Ring. Play back the incident at star date 11132.019 at 2300 hours."

_"Initializing."_

After buffering for a bit, the ring projected a holographic display of how it all went down.

* * *

Maria took a deep breath and remembered her training.

Instead of handing Amon Sur the ring, she raised her personal shields to maximum and proceeded to use her flying abilities to ram her back against the assailant before he could react. Maria rammed Amon Sur into a nearby tree, and as she flew a safe distance from him, the man let out a pain gasp as was forced on his ass.

Maria pointed her ringed fist at Amon. "I'm giving you this one chance. Put down your weapon, or I'm putting you down."

Amon glared at Maria most hatefully. He gripped his laser gun and... pointed it at Laira.

"No!", Maria yelled as Amon fired at the more vulnerable Lantern.

Maria quickly flew down to project an shield around Laira to block the laser bolts. However, this was all part of Amon Sur's plan. Once the shots were blocked, a flashback grenade was thrown in front of Maria's face. It exploded, and it blinded Maria and made her ears ring badly.

"Damn it!", Maria yelled as she squeezed her eyes shut and covered her stinging ears.

Using this distraction, Amon Sur used his jetpack to fly in and tackle Maria out of the sky. Once he pinned her to the ground, Amon grabbed Maria's left hand and moved to take her ring. However, Maria had enough awareness to resist and grab Amon's free wrist as it tried to pry the ring from her finger.

"Give it!", Amon spat as he grew frustrated with this little tug-of-war, "It's mine!"

"Like hell it is!", Maria shouted as her ring began to pulse with energy, "Shove off, poozer!"

Maria blindly fired an concussive blast from her ring. As she was intimately close with Amon Sur at the time, it hit him square in the chest, sending him flying.

As her enemy squirmed in agony at a fair distance, Maria got up, staggering, as she said, "Uh... ring... do something about the eyes. Ugh... and the ears!"

_"Initiating first aid protocol."_

The ring set off a pulse of energy that traveled to her head. As the energy washed oved Maria's eyes and ears, she could feel the pain in her eyes quickly die down and the ringing in her ears to cease immediately.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Maria slowly opened her eyes. However, that proved to be an all too brief respite.

As her blurry vision stabilizes, Maria saw Amon Sur standing over Laira's body with a gun pointed at her. There was tension in the air, and it took everything in Maria Rambeau to not try to blast the man's head off.

"No more debate," Amon Sur growled, "Either give me your ring, or I put a laser bolt in her head."

Maria gritted her teeth. There was a brief pause as she tried to figure out a way to save Laira without losing her ring. However, Amon refused to give her that time.

His laser pistol powered up. "I'm giving you to the count of five. Five..."

Maria hesitated.

"Four..."

The ring on her finger started to feel heavy.

"Three..."

She just found her calling. Is this really how this was going to end?

"Two...", Amon aimed for the back of Laira's head.

"Alright!", Maria screamed as she took off her ring.

A smug smile formed on Amon's face that Maria would really like to punch off. "Now bring it here," Maria tried walking towards Amon, but he interrupted, "No, no. Stay there."

Maria groaned. "So you wanna take this from me?"

"Nice try. I'm not taking any chances with you. Fly that ring over here. I know you can."

Maria let out a curse under her breath as she let go of her ring and willed it to fly over to Amon. As Amon Sur's grubby little fingers snatched her ring, Maria's Green Lantern uniform faded away, leaving only her drab civilian clothes.

Amon eyed his stolen prize with a greedy smile. Feeling spiteful, Maria told him, "The ring chose me, you know! It's basically useless to you!"

"Don't you worry about me. I have a solution to that," Amon said as he pulled out a device that resembled a lockpick. Maria had to assume that it's some kind of hacking device meant to transfer ownership of the ring to Amon Sur.

This wasn't fair, Maria thought. She just embraced her destiny as a Green Lantern, and now it's being taken from her by some random poozer. Maria wanted to leave behind a heroic legacy like her parents, but now it seems that all that she will be remembered as is the stupid girl who let her power ring fall into the hands of a common criminal. If only she could use her ring right now...

It was then that a light bulb sparked inside Maria Rambeau's head. "Wait! I can!", she thought.

Maria closed her eyes and poured all her focus on her ring. It's currently being hacked right now, but as Kilowog (painfully) taught her, a Green Lantern can do anything as long as they have the willpower.

Maria hasn't used the remote control technique for anything other than flying before. But now is as good a time as any to try something different.

Amon Sur chuckled with anticipation as his hack was nearing completion. After reclaiming his father's legacy, Amon planned to take his revenge against the humans who had dared humiliated him. His father's power was within his reach. His future will be limitless!

But then ring powered up and fired an energy blast that destroyed the hacking device and fried Amon's fingers in the process.

"GUAAH!", Amon screamed in agony, "That's... that's impossible!"

"I'm a Green Lantern!", Maria shouted proudly, "You should know. We don't know the meaning of that word!"

She then willed her ring to fly in and smack Amon's cheek with the force of a strong right hook (or left in Maria's case). That attack put Amon in a daze, allowing Maria to run up to him.

Willing her ring to fly back and return to her finger, Maria Rambeau glowed a brilliant green as her magnificent uniform returned to her. When she was within arm's reach of Amon Sur, she lunged at him. She formed an extra hard metal gauntlet around her ringed fist as the young Lantern smashed it against Amon's face with the force of righteous fury!

Amon cried out as the force of the super punch laid him out in a definitive TKO.

As Amon Sur lied down unconscious, Maria Rambeau let out a primal yell as she bragged, "You just got owned! Haha! Yeah! I did that! Woo! If only mom and dad could see me now!"

Once Maria got that out of her system, she cuffed Amon Sur's hands together with a construct before tending to her fallen friend. Maria eyed her Obedience Disk and simply plucked it out of her back. After crushing the contemptible thing in her hands, Maria held on to Laira as she slowly picked herself up.

Groaning, Laira said, "Ugh... that's one more thing to be embarrassed of tonight."

"You had to bail me out, like, a hundred times this past week," Maria said trying to cheer her friend up, "The score is still heavily in your favor."

This managed to get a smile out of the alien girl.

Still feeling guilty, Maria said, "Laira... listen. About that kiss..."

"Don't worry about it," Laira said shrugging, "I shouldn't have just kissed you out of the blue. I assumed. I'm sorry."

Maria helped Laira get up on her feet. "Listen. You are a great girl. You've been such a good friend to me this past week. If things were different, maybe we might have had a shot together, but..."

"Your heart belongs to your Earth girl," Laira finished with a blank look on her face.

Maria sighed. "That doesn't mean I can't still like you as a friend. I don't have a lot of those, and I care about you... a lot."

Laira nodded. "I get it. Thanks."

The alien girl still looked uncomfortable with the subject. She looked at the bound and unconscious Amon Sur and said, "It seems that you mastered the remote control technique."

"It was more of a 'learned how to swim so I don't drown' moment, but... yeah. I guess I did," Maria said cheerfully.

Laira hummed. "You know, I wasn't able to use my ring like that until after my first year in the Corps."

"I had a great teacher," Maria told her friend sincerely.

Laira managed to smile back. Her heart is still a little wounded by tonight's revelation, but she still has Maria's friendship. That's worth something. Hopefully this pain would heal with time.

Laira put on her Green Lantern uniform and placed Amon Sur in a tractor beam.

"Come on. Let's get this poozer to a Sciencell," Laira said.

Maria nodded and flew alongside her friend.

* * *

That was where the recording ended.

Marie asked, "Do all of you Lanterns say 'poozer' now? Back in my day, only one Green Lantern used that word."

"Well, when you spend weeks training under Sergeant Kilowog, you tend to pick up his habits," Maria casually mentioned.

Carter asked, "I think you need to have an honest talk with Laira. It looks like she's still upset after you rejected her."

Maria raised her brow in confusion. "I'm pretty sure we already had that."

"No, I can tell that she's still upset," Carter insisted, "You should have at least one more talk. Maybe set some boundaries. Or you could try seeing where this goes with her. You do seem to be kinda into her, and I'm sure Laira would appreciate that. If you can handle the drama, that is..."

Marie glared at Carter. "I don't think you should treat your daughter's love life like a soap opera. And I really don't appreciate you suggesting that she cheat on _my daughter."_

"I'm just trying to be helpful," Carter said defensively.

"Carter, your romantic experience is limited only to one woman," Marie pointed out, "I don't think you're qualified to advise Maria on the complexities of love triangles!"

"I have hundreds of lifetimes worth of 'romantic experience' with hundreds of women, thank you very much!"

"All of whom are reincarnations of that woman!", Marie said pointing to Shiera.

"Anyway!", Maria interrupted blushing wildly. She then looked at her mother and said, "Mom, you know I can handle myself."

Shiera sighed. "I know. It's just... ever since we took you in... all I ever wanted to do is protect you. I know you've trained. I know you know the risks. And I can't deny how much being a Green Lantern means to you. But... I can't help but see you as that little girl who needed my help."

"Well, that little girl grew up. And she had a great example."

"I know. This Kilowog guy trained you well..."

Maria shook her head. "I was talking about you. You raised me to take charge of my own destiny. That's what I'm doing now."

Shiera blushed. "Well... I'm, uh, glad."

Maria asked, "So... about my burgeoning Green Lantern career..."

"Alright. You have my blessing," Shiera relented. Maria cheered and shook giddily, but Shiera added, "But you'll have to train with me every weekend. I might as well show how not to get yourself killed out there."

"Thanks mom!", Maria shook her head excitedly.

"But that doesn't mean I'll go easy on you," Shiera warned her, "If you think Kilowog's training was hard, ask the newer members of the JSA about their time with me. I pretty sure they still have nightmares."

Maria chuckled nervously. She knew Shiera long enough to know when she is being serious. "Good to know," she then turned to Marie, "Where's Carol?"

"Her room," she pointed up, "Take it slow with her, okay? She's had a tough few weeks."

Maria nodded, still feeling guilty about that. She disengaged her uniform and said, "Got it."

As she climbed up the stairs, Marie told her, "If you cheat on my daughter, I'm obligated to kick your ass. Just letting you know now."

Maria rolled her eyes. "Sure."

And then she was gone.

Marie looked at Shiera, who still looked uncertain about the whole thing. "She's a tough kid, Shiera. I'm sure she'll be fine."

Shiera let out a shaky breath. "I hope you're right."

"Trust me. I have a good feeling about this. Everything's gonna turn out just fine."

And then another message cylinder smashed through her window.

Marie took a deep breath and both her friends plugged in their ears.

"GAAAAHHH!"

* * *

Maria approached Carol's room. A door was currently separating her and her girlfriend. Maria tried turning the knob, but it was locked.

"Oh Carol...", Maria hummed. She knocked on the door.

"Go away," Carol spoke in an emotionally dead tone.

"Carol. It's me."

There was only silence at first. But then Maria heard the rapid tapping of footsteps, and the door opened.

Maria saw Carol for the first time in five weeks. She was as beautiful as ever, but her long hair was unkempt and her eyes were red.

Carol looked at Maria in disbelief. "Maria?"

Maria smiled. "Hey."

Carol gingerly held on to Maria's shoulders, still unsure if this was real or a hallucination caused by weeks of stress. Once Maria felt solid enough, Carol pulled her in for a tight embrace.

"I thought I was never gonna see you again!", Carol said crying into her girlfriend's shoulder.

Maria wrapped her arms around her girl and snuggled into the crook of her neck. "And leave the most amazing girl in the universe? Never."

Carol pulled away to give Maria a deep and needy kiss. Maria kissed back with much intensity as she pulled in the girl she wanted to touch for weeks. It was sloppy. With that much passion involved, of course it was. But it was cathartic. For both girls.

They pulled away to catch their breath.

Opening her eyes slowly, Carol looked at the girl she loved and asked, "Where have you been?"

Maria chuckled as she pulled up the green ring on her finger. "Well... that's a long story."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And... scene!
> 
> Damn, that was a lot more than I expected. I think I'll take a break right here. I need to get all my ideas together. 
> 
> A great thing about this format is that I have greater creative freedom. I don't delete completed works on principle, and I don't have to return to the same character or story arc if my muse points me to another direction. I'll still acknowledge continuity when I can, though.
> 
> When I return, I'll probably focus on another character. Maybe next time I'll focus on Carol and do that prequel fic I mentioned.
> 
> Or maybe I'll do another character in modern times. Currently, I'm tied between a Kamala Khan story starring either Rory Regan or Cassandra Cain, a Wanda/Vision story starring their kids plus some story elements from House of M, and a Tony Stark story involving Karen Beecher and an illegitimate child.
> 
> Or I'll do something completely different. I do have an idea that involves America Chavez as a vampire, and I am interested in doing something involving Captain Britain Peggy Carter. Or maybe Kate Bishop finding herself as the new Green Arrow after a Crisis changed her life forever?
> 
> In the future, I might even do a story involving this Maria meeting the MCU Monica and Carol. That should be a good one for the feels, right?
> 
> The future is limitless here. I hope you all stick around.
> 
> Thanks for the read and have a nice day.


End file.
